Legend: Mourinho (left) brought Drogba to the club in 2004 from Marseille, and his faith paid off

Elsewhere: The 36-year-old has interest from clubs in Qatar while Juventus continue to flirt with the idea

Qatari clubs are willing to offer greater money with salaries being discussed of around £3million a season after tax but the idea of a return to Chelsea is something both parties wish to look at.

Mourinho has great affection for Drogba and knows he could have great influence on a squad that is changing this summer. He declared prior to the Champions League tie with Galatasaray in March that Drogba could return and is keen to fulfil that wish.

Drogba won three Premier League titles, four FA Cups and the Champions League while at Chelsea and Mourinho wants to use that experience to good effect with his new additions.

Share this article

Share

Diego Costa has arrived from Atletico Madrid with compatriot Filipe Luis expected to follow. Kurt Zouma has arrived and will go out on loan possibly to Sunderland while another centre-back, midfielder and striker are still to be recruited.

Drogba's friend, Petr Cech though could yet depart with Monaco and Paris St Germain at the fore for the the 32-year-old.

Return? Drogba was Chelsea's hero in the 2012 Champions League final win over Bayern Munich

Manchester United face a dilemma after Patrice Evra's declaration that he would like to leave.

They have invested heavily in Luke Shaw and his age dictates they should possibly look for an established defender to replace Evra and share the burden of being United's first choice left-back.

Options: United have talked about Ben Davies of Swansea and Ricardo Rodriguez of Wolfsburg

However, they have spoken about Liverpool and Tottenham target Ben Davies of Swansea and Ricardo Rodriguez of Wolfsburg who are both 21. Another player that has impressed is Daley Blind who is 24. The Dutchman does fall into the category that Louis van Gaal likes of being able to play in a couple of positions but he may be short of pace to play left-back in the Premier League.

Evra will be sorely missed at Old Trafford as he moves on to Juventus and he may be followed out the door by quite a few names yet. Van Gaal likes to work with a relatively small squad of around 22 players but United already have a first team squad pushing 40 in number.

Near: Barring an unexpected U-turn, Juventus are confident of concluding a deal by the end of this week

Barcelona midfielder Xavi is still considering the option of choosing New York City as his next destination. The 34-year-old has two more years left on contract but is expected to depart. He had an outline agreement with Al Arabi for £6.4m over six months and other offers in Qatar with Michael Laudrup's Lekhwiya interested. Manchester United were also reputed to have made an approach but Xavi wants to take a step down with friends saying he is tired mentally and physically after 16 seasons at the top.

The idea of New York appeals as he would join friends David Villa and Thierry Henry plus Frank Lampard. Also the franchise doesn't begin till next year so gives him time to re-charge.

Reports have claimed New York has already allocated its designated player budget but the MLS is exploring possible changes to fit in with sensible financial management.

Options: Xavi's future is unclear, but the Spaniard has plenty of options around the world

West Ham are hopeful of finalising the transfer of Enner Valencia from Pachuca ahead of competition from Stoke.

The 25-year-old scored all three of Ecuador's goals at the finals in Brazil as they went out in the group stages.

Porto, Everton and Newcastle have also shown an interest with Pachuca looking for £12million but a deal could be struck at around £10m with Pachuca looking to maintain a sell-on clause.

Pachuca club president Jesus Martinez said: 'There are various offers for Enner Valencia, the strongest and closest to what the player and us are demanding is from a club from England. We are making huge steps to finalise the negotiation.

From midfield: West Ham are hopeful of finalising the transfer of Ecuadorian Enner Valencia

Talking to Ecuagol, he added: 'We are seeking the possibility that is convenient for him and the club and that he is sold for the price that we like for everything the Mexican league is worth.

'We want to keep a percentage of the player in case he is sold in the future to another big team in Europe. I won't talk about prices, but if he is sold, it will be the highest transfer fee ever in Mexican football, otherwise he won't be sold.

'It hurts me, I don't want to sell him and neither does the manager or the fans but we can't go against the career the kid aspires to, first because of the salary that they pay there, five times bigger (than what he is paid here) and he also wants to prove himself in the best league in the world, which is the Premier League and that will make Pachuca very proud as we will be sending other players to Europe.'

Wigan are in discussions with former Cardiff midfielder Don Cowie. The 31-year-old rejected a contract offer from Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and is a free agent.

Solskjaer said: 'Don has been a great servant to the club and a fantastic lad to have in the dressing room. There was a contact there, but we have made signings now and Don wanted to keep his options open so all we can do now is wish him all the very best for the future.'

The Scotland international has had interest from Rangers, Watford and Blackburn but likes the idea of teaming up with Uwe Rosler at the DW Stadium.

Meanwhile, Gary Caldwell has made a surprising decision to turn down a prospective move to Greek side Olympiakos. The Greek champions, who completed the signing Patjim Kasami from Fulham on Wednesday.

Newcastle have not given up on the possibility of signing Loic Remy from QPR for his designated £8million buy-out.

Arsenal have long been considered favourites but Newcastle are hoping Remy has been put off by the prospect of being on the sidelines while Olivier Giroud and Alexis Sanchez dominate the starting slots. Newcastle are also prepared to match Remy's personal terms.

Arsenal have enquired about Javier Manquillo the Atletico Madrid right-back. The 20-year-old was due to sign for Marseille on loan but that has stalled after the player heard of Arsenal's interest.

Arsene Wenger wants another right-back as well as Mathieu Debuchy with Carl Jenkinson available for sale. Arsenal have considered Calum Chambers at Southampton but the south coast club are reluctant to keep selling their best talent. A loan deal for Manquillo may suit all parties with Chambers being made available next year.

Liverpool are reluctant to loan Iago Aspas back to Spain and are looking to recoup the majority of the £7million fee they paid to Celta Vigo for the 26-year-old. Sevilla want the striker but can't expect too many favours after their demands over left-back Alberto Moreno's valuation forced Liverpool away from that deal. Aspas will also have to take a 20percent pay cut.

Liverpool will sign Benfica's Lazar Markovic today and hope to fend off Tottenham and Borussia Dortmund for Divock Origi from Lille.

Money back: Liverpool are reluctant to loan misfit Iago Aspas back to Spain

The £75million deal for Luis Suarez is in place but Barcelona want to finalise the transfer of Alexis Sanchez to Arsenal before announcing and await clarification on FIFA's ban on the Uruguayan.

Barcelona are ready to offload Cristian Tello, Isaac Cuenca, Alex Song, Bojan Krkic, Ibrahim Afellay and goalkeeper Oier to help offset spending which will continue with the recruitment of another midfielder and defender. Tottenham's Jan Vertonghen has impressed their scouting team in Brazil.

Burnley have expressed an interest in signing Sunderland misfit Danny Graham. Middlesbrough and Watford have also asked about 28-year-old Graham who Sunderland are willing to sell for just £1million. However, Burnley may even be allowed to take him on loan for a season with a small loan fee with Sunderland keen to get his wages off the books.

Move: Danny Graham has struggled during his time at Sunderland after his move from Swansea